LaOtto Home Catches Fire After Being Struck By Lig...

LaOtto Home Catches Fire After Being Struck By Lightning Created by wowonewsroom on 7/20/2013 8:41:29 PM

LAOTTO, Ind. (21 ALIVE): A home catches fire after being struck by lightning early Saturday morning.

A LaOttoa family wakes up to the smell of fire after lightning strikes their home.

Landon Moore, whose parents own the home, says he woke up around 4:30 Saturday morning and heard a loud lightning strike. He says it was at least five to ten minutes after the strike that the family started to smell smoke and fire.

Fire officials say the lightning struck a gas line under ground and sparked the blaze. Firefighters had trouble even finding the fire as it had sparked in the heat ducts and between the floors.

Landon says the smoke detectors didn't go off right away, “They didn't kick on until it really started taking off in the kitchen, which was probably 20 minutes after we started noticing everything and started attacking it,” he said.

The LaOtto Fire Department was assisted by the Kendallville, Churubusco, Huntertown, and Washington Township Fire Departments.